V2001...
What a weekend it was for all of the festivalgoers that trekked around in the mud for 2 days in Hylands Park in Chelmsford.
I myself attended this festival for the 1st time this year. Unusual you may think because I am an actual Chelmsford resident so the festival is right on my doorstep.
Here is a review and a guide to the show, what was on, how to get there and other general talking points.
V2001.
Hosted by Virgin, the V shows bring together the cream of Rock, dance, indie and Pop music and put them on 2 stages and various tents.
The shows have got bigger and bigger for the last 6 years.
It is held in 2 locations:
Hylands Park, Chelmsford.
Weston Park, Leeds.
I attended the Chelmsford one.
How to get there?
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It’s very well signposted from all roads in the town.
From London, head up the A12 towards Ipswich.
Just before Chelmsford, you are signposted off along the A1016 towards the Park. There is a new speed limit for the festival so be careful. You would not want to start your festival off with a speeding ticket.
By Train, Catch a train to Chelmsford from Liverpool St Station London. Costs about £13 return. It takes about 40 mins to get there from Liverpool St.
Once at the Railway station, cross the road and hop on a free bus to the park, roughly 2 miles away.
Locals, get dropped off in Writtle by Paradise Rd. Walk along Paradise road, through the pathway at the end and into the park.
This is the quickest gate into the park, gate 1.
Safety and security.
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yes its better this year but I know of people who got in without paying and I admit, I have jumped the wall in recent years to attend the Chelmsford Spectacular there!
If you know the park well, there are ways in. Not worth the risk though.
The security were easy to spot in their Bright Orange Tops.
There
were lots of them around too to point you in the right direction to the park and around it once you were in.
Catering/merchandise.
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What a rip off!
The food was plentiful and there were many varieties of cuisine.
Chinese, Italian, Mexican, fish and chips, burgers, you name it.
Now the nasty bit.
£3.50 for a Burger!
£2.50 for a bottle of Water!
£2.80 for a pint!
£10 for a flimsy Rain mac poncho!
£6 for a programme.
Beer was a real pain. You had to queue to buy vouchers for the beer then exchange the vouchers at the beer tent for your pint!
Ridiculous.
The Bacardi tent was taking cash but you had to wait for ages at the bar if you ever got to it.
Queueing for food was no problem but at those prices, there is no wonder.
Toilets
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Queue, Queue, Queue!
I waited with my wife for the toilet for about 20 minutes. That was on Saturday afternoon before they started to really smell.
I noticed the other lads all peeing in the bushes, hedges and trees at any chance they got. Strange as there were separate cubicles for the lads.
Ladies being more refined were queueing.
My wife went to the toilet once on Sunday and said it was the worst thing she has ever endured in her life!
More needs to be done at festivals in my opinion for this.
The Weather.
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A mixed bag. Half dry and half wet on both days. The ground held up surprisingly well too.
Only boggy in places. It started to rain halfway through Saturday and finished halfway through Sunday.
The Acts - My Festival itinery Review.
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Saturday 18th August 2001
12pm: After Queueing for 30 minutes to get through the gate and having my bag checked for naughties, we eventually got in. The walk from the Britvic Roundabout had taken nearly as long.
In by Gate 4. Just by the 2nd stage. Walking around getting our bearings takes 20 minutes by which time we had found the main stage.
12:45pm: Who the hell is that on stage? An old man who sounds like ACDC but looks like someone else is up there belting out tunes.
Consulting the programme, I find its Jimmy Barnes....
WHO?
Never heard of him myself. Does a couple of tunes that everyone else seems to know but me. Maybe im getting old. Does a tune with his daughter whom he introduces. Better luck next year Jimmy. Standing nearly at the front, I can see and hear perfectly well.
1:45pm: Wassup Wassup Wassup....Yeeeeeahhh. We are the SPOOOOOOOOOKS!
Excellent set by the spooks. Everyone is up for it now. They finish on their most famous number, Things I’ve Seen.
2:30pm: Getting bored between the big set breaks. Don’t want to lose my place on the mat though as its starting to get busy.
Try to send the wife off with her friend to get some beer.
3pm: Neely Furtado is not my cup of tea so decide to get the beer myself.
OK, she has had a couple of hits but not exactly the cutting edge of festival music. Should have been on the other stage and swapped places with someone bigger like Shed Seven.
4pm: After a big beer hunt im back and ready for Faithless. Or so I thought.....
Out pop the "Special Guests" for the day, Embrace!
They were superb and really seemed pleased to be there, something I thought other acts lacked. Could not stop thanking the audience for buying their music.
No problem lads....Napster gave me it for free!
5:30pm: Woo hoo! Here comes Faithless!!!
They simply rocked the show. Everyone was up, jumping around to their hits. "I cant get no sleep....."
No surprised with all that noise!
They looked, sounded and performed brilliantly.
7pm: The rains are coming and I have no waterproofs.
7:10pm: Im absolutely drenched but I don’t care. Coldplay have just walked out onstage and I’m enjoying every minute of it. They truly are great performers. Their music is brilliant and everyone is singing along to the choruses in the rain.
8pm: The highlight of my day! One of my favourite bands, The Charlatans had everyone in the place rocking. All the late 20 something’s were down the front, reliving their A level and university days when Baggy jeans were in and our strange mop top hair cuts were just about to break into long hair.
The "only One I Know" and "Weirdo" were just the best!
9pm: I’m soaked, cold and sober. Beer tent is too far away and so is Kylie Minogue in the dry of the JJB Tent. Time to get the mobile out and ring my brother for a lift home!
We sacrificed Charlene Spiteri which I have been told was good but she was not as good as my nice warm house and even warmer bed.
Sunday 19th August 2001
12:30pm: Just awoken to see who is on today...
ITS RAINING HARD OUTSIDE!
No one I like until about 7pm so that is ok.
Decide to watch the grand prix instead.
3pm: Safe in the Knowledge that Michael Schumacher is now world Drivers champion, I get ready to face the weather.
Weather looks brighter so decide to get ready and go down to see Neil Finn of Crowded House Fame.
4pm: "Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you"
Very Apt Neil as you seem to have brought a little bit of that Aussie sunshine to Hylands Park.
5pm: "Every You and Every me" sing placebo. Obviously an acquired taste. Still the 17 year old Goths in Make up and weird piercings seem to like it.
6:30pm: ARGH! David Gray! I can’t stand the bloke!
He is so bland and middle of the road that he even makes Cats Eyes look pushed to one side.
He performed his hits well but no one was really interested. How can you put him on the same billing as Placebo, Foo Fighters and the Chilli’s?
8:45pm: The Foo Fighters are just finishing their set of sheer brilliance. The whole Crowd has been singing along to their songs and Dave Grohl has shown what a true showman he is.
9:15pm: The moment most of us had waited all weekend for!
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers Belted out hit after hit with a great stage show.
Lights, stage antics and a strange hanging picture of an oriental lady?
Everyone was rocking and singing along. My feet stopped hurting for a brief hour and then they were gone. An encore was met with huge cheers but they failed to perform one of my favourites, Suck my Kiss.
We all went home happy. Some left before the end which I don’t understand. How often do you get to see the chillis?
All in all an excellent weekend spoiled only by the weather and the prices.
23.08.2001 12:23
Hey there...yep, I went to Weston Park and had the time of my life...oh yes! The Charlatans definitely get my best of show award ("The Only One I Know"...sheer brilliance..), but you really should've stayed around for Texas...I'm not a massive fan but here Sharleen and the gang totally rocked (although I'm biased, having been on the FRONT ROW for those two bands and everything)....anyway cheers for the great review, and have fun next year! Clanger
21.08.2001 01:23
brilliant stuff here.. sure u had the time of your life huh? i actually won 2 weekend camper tickets for the weston park one, but didn't even go coz of the stinking weather.. cheers :)
21.08.2001 00:33
Brilliant review...might convince a lot of people to take a trip next year. My brother (clangerwrangler) whos 15 went and got back today fairly muddy. He said the charletans were just the best, although he would as their one of his fave bands. I so wish I'd have gone I mean the foos, chilis and even the divine comedy.....what more could i ask for?? Phil :)